Apparatus for carbonizing wood



April 15 1924.

. W. S. SHAW APPARATUS FOR CARBONIZING woon Filed May l. 1922 2 Sheet,Nwm sl i f? J Ltll llLHl I /k\ /v /y f. rv N@ w Nr N N3 uw Lm ,f |F|1I| E @LUL t P hrw k L .y JHJPT April 15, 1924. 1,490,542

' W. S. SHAW APPARATUS FOR CARBONIZING WOOD *tiled .May l. 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Iiatented Sapa l5, i924.

STATES wrnnreivr s. SHAW, oifonroneo', ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR, CARBONIZING- WOOD.

Application filed May l,

T 0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. SHAW, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forCarbonizing lVood, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the reference charactersmarked thereon, which form a party of this speciiication.

This invention relates' to an apparatus for carbonizing wood.

Heretofore, in the carbonization of wood, in the manufacture of woodalcohol and other products, enclosed steel retorts have been used,usually in horizontal arrangement, with a so-called oven at each end ofeach retort. rlhe products of combustion have been passed from the ovensto heating chambers surrounding the retorts, so as to pass under, up andover the top of the retort and then out to a stack. The maximum of heatunits have thus not been utilized, being wasted by passing out throughthe stack, and much of the heat being prevented rfrom being transmittedto the retort by reason of the fact that the products of com bustiondeposit soot and ashes over the retorts.

Apparatus of this kind manifestly reuires a considerable fioor area andthe use of a relatively large number of attendants. Moreover, the heatin the chambers surrounding the retorts has not been under control orregulation except as the oven itself may be regulated. The result hasbeen great waste of heat units.

On ofthe objects of the present invention is to arrange an .apparatus soas to be able to control and regulate the'temperature in the heatingchamber surrounding each retort and at the same time economize the floorspace and reduce the expense of operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatuswhereby a plurality of retorts, located preferably in pairs, may bepositioned with relation to and connected with a source of heat so thata single heating device may be utilized, and whereby the heating mediummay be circulated from the heat generator or furnace proper to theseveral retorts and back again; while at the Sametime the products ofcombustion from the heating device may be so directed as to avoid thefouling of the 1922. Serial No. 557,765.

retorts by the deposit of soot and ashes thereon.

I accomplish this purpose b-y directing the products of combustion fromthe combustion chamber to an indirect heating device or furnacecontaining a` plurality of pipes or tubes around which the products ofcombustion pass. These pipes are connected to conduits which lead to andfrom aheating chamber surrounding each retort. Suitable means, such as afan,'is used to force or circulate the indirectly heated air from thefurnace to the heating chamber in each retort, and back to be reheated.The temperature in the heating chamber surrounding each retort may becontrolled by dampers, preferably, thermostatically opera.ted.

The advantages of the system are obvious and will be manifest as Iproceed with my specication.

, In the drawings: f

Fig. l is a diagrammatic plan view of an apparatus embodying myinvention.

Fig. 2 isI an end elevation of the same, partly in section.

Iiig. 3 is a sectional view of the indirect air heating furnace providedwith a. com bustion chamber.

Fig. 4L is a detail view showing some of the pipes of the furnace.

Fig. 5 is a. vertical sectional view of one of the retorts.

To illustrate my invention, I have chosen to show in the drawings, eightretorts, grouped in pairs, the same being indicated by letters. R, R.Each retort is surrounded by a. suitable brick casing l, which containsa heat-ing chamber 2 that completely surrounds the retort. Between thetwo central groups of retorts, I locate the indirect heating furnacetions, as will be seen f nace consists of suitable masonry 3, a. heatgenerator or combustion chamber Ll, and a plurality of verticallyarranged tubes or pipes 5, supported upon I-beams 6, dividing it inthree compartments A, B and C,-the tubes 5 being in the compartment B.Two baffle plates 7 and 8 divide the compartment Br into substantiallythree chambers, 9, 10

F, preferably made in seci rom Fig. 3. This fur-V and ll. The productsof combustion from the chamber 4 pass into the compartment V9 near itslower portion, and follow the course indicated by the arrows around thepipes 5, to the topl of and over kthe first bailie plate 7. into thecompartment l0, around the pipes llo 5 therein and below the second'baie plate 8, to and into the chamber 11, around the pipes itherein,and inally pass out through the pipe l2, which may lead to a smokestack. The passage of the products of combustion from the chamber Ilthrough the chambers 9, 10 and 11, thoroughly heats up the air which isin the hollow pipes or tubes 5.

inasmuch as these products of combustion still retain many heat unitsJ lprefer to lead them from the pipe 12 to a kiln where the wood to beplaced in the retorts for carbonization may first be thoroughly dried.

A wall 13 divides the compartment A into Vo sections a, l), and a wall14 similarly divides compartment C into two sections c, al. All thetubes 5 open above and below into the several sections of the chambers Aand C.. The chamber C connects by a passageway 15 through fan 20 withthe conduit D, which extends on each side of the furnace F a distancesufficient tov communicate with the farthest retort R, as clean ly shownin Fig. 2, and this conduit D also communicates through passageways 16with the several heating chambers 2. Preferably, although notessentially, the lower part of each retort R may be provided with adeilector 17, so that the heated air passing beyond the valve V willbe'deflected to the right and left and properly circulate in the heatingchamber 2.

The upper part of each heating chamber 2 is provided with an air exit,valved pa. sageway 18, which is connected with an air return conduit Eextending above the top of the several retorts and terminating in apassageway 19 leading into section of compartment A of the heatingfurnace F.

i fan 20 is located in such relation to the conduit D as to draw theheated air from the heater and deliver it to the retorts. It will-thusbe seen that a complete circulation of indirectly heated air will takeplace, from the furnace F through the passageway 15, the conduit D andthe heating chamber 2 of each of the retorts, out through the passage18, into the return conduit E, and back into the furnace F.

The returned air will then pass from section l) downwardly through thetubes 5 into section d of the compartment C, up through tubes 5 intosection a of compartment A and down through tubes 5 into section c ofcompartment C, and to conduit 15. The air will thus flow through theheated tubes 5, as indicated by one set of arrows, counter to thedirection of the products ,of combustion passing from the tire chamber 4to the outlet 12.

Where the retorts are positioned on both sides of the furnace F, asshown, it is advisable to place a deector, indicated at 21, near thedischarge opening of the fan 2() so as to deflect the air VVin bothdirections in the conduit D.

The condensible products from the retort are lead through a conduit 22to any suitable condenser, indicated at 23.

Y 1n Fig. 1, 1 have shown a second furnace F and combustion chamber ai,which may be used in an emergency, in the event the J{ir-st one requiresrepair, or may be used where it is necessary to increase the capacity ofthe heating medium, in order to faire care of the number of retorts inuse.

It will be manifest that instead of arranging the retorts in pairs, theymay be used singly or in any desired multiple, and instead of beingplaced in a given arrangement such as in line, snown in Fig. 1, they maybe otherwise arrangedgthe essential feature being that the severalretortsA may be so arranged in connection with a central source of heatas to permit the. air to be circulated from the heater to the retort andback to the heater, and the temperature in the heating chamber of eachretort cone trolled, as desired Y I have indicated in the drawing,typical valves V which may be manually operated or thermostaticallycontrolled as desired. By havingseparate valves for each retort, notonly may the temperature in each retort heating chamber 2 be controlled,but the hot air may be shut olf entirely from given retort withoutinterfering with the operation of the circulatory system as a whole, andwith respect to the other retorts. Thismay be desirable when aparticular retort is being charged, unloaded or repaired.

It will therefore be manifest that I am not concerned with the precisestructural details herein shown, and that the same may be, L.;

modified to suit the exigencies of ular installation.

I cla-im as my invention:

l. In an apparatus for the purpose described, wherein a plurality ofretorts are heated from a central heating furnace, a fur-- nace providedwith tubular compartment, a combustion chamber communicating therewith,means for retarding the flow of the gaseslof combustion through saidcompartment, and means for passing the retort heating medium through thetubes in said compartment in a direction counter to that of the gases. i

2. In an apparatus for the purposedescribed, wherein a plurality ofretorts are heated from a central heating plant, the furnace describedVcomprising a compartment having a plurality of tubes, baie platesalternately open at the top and bottom whereby the products ofcombustion will have to describe a zig-zag course in passing around thetubes from one end of the compartment to the other. Y

3. An apparatus for the purpose any particmi Ui,

scribed, comprising a plurality of retorts arranged in pairs, a heatingchamber surrounding each retort, a tubular furnace, a conduit for thepassage of the heating medium within the furnace tubes to the lower partof the heating chamber of the several retorts, a second conduit leadingfrom the retorts back to the furnace, means for causing a circulation ofthe heating medium through said conduits, and means including a valvefor controlling the temperature in each retort heating chamber.

4. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a tubular heatingfurnace, a fuel combustion chamber therefor, a plurality of retortsarranged in pairs on both sides of the furnace, a heating chambersurrounding each retort, a conduit from Y the furnace to the severalretorts and a second conduit from the retorts back to the furnace, meansfor causing a circulation of the heating medium, a control valve in eachconduit, the said furnace being provided with a plurality ofcompartments whereby the products of combustion pass from the combustionchamber around the tubes in one direction and the heating medium passesthrough the tubes in the opposite direction.

5.1In a' circulatory heating system for the carbonization of wood,comprising a heating device, a plurality of retorts and conduitscommunicating with the several re torts and the heating device, atubular furnace, an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other, eachcommunicating with its appropriate conduit, baiiie plates dividing thefurnace into a plurality of compartments, a combustion chambercommunicating with one of said compartments and an outletl for theproducts of combustion leading from another compartment, and means forcirculating the heating medium.

6. An apparatus for the purpose described, comprising a fuel combustionchamber, a tubular furnace, baffle plates therein dividing the furnaceinto compartments, an inlet from the combustion chamber into onecompartment, an outlet for products of combustion leading from anothercompartment, a plurality of retorts, a heating chamber surrounding eachretort, a conduit leading from the lower part of the furnace near thecom bustion chamber, a valved passageway from said conduit leading tothe lower part of each heating chamber, a conduit above the severalretorts having valved communication with the top of each heatingchamber, said upper conduit communicating with the upper part of thefurnace at a point distant from the combustion chamber and a fan forcontinuously circulating the heating medium through the tubular furnace,the conduits and the heating cham-k bers.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I ali'ix mysignature, in the presence of two witnesses,.this 26th lday of April,1922.

WILLIAM S. SHAW. Witnesses B. L. MAGGREGOR,

TAYLOR E. BROWN.

